Radisson Resort Fiji Denarau Island

We have just returned from 6days staying @ Radisson Denarau.

There is no denying this resort is beautiful. However it still has some problems to solve. The service in the bars and Nautilus restaurant is very hit and miss. More often than not the food ordered from A' La carte menu takes forever to arrive and often is cold! Disappointing considering the expense. Breakfast staff need to be more on the ball with clearing plates and ensuring tables are reset. Sometimes we would arrive for breakfast and it was difficult to tell what was clean on a table as it had not been cleared. Birds eating off tables @ breakfast also big problem.

I saw 2 staff members using their fingers to put more pancakes in the warmers!!! We stopped ordering coffee with our breakfast after day 3 as it would take up to 20minutes to arrive!!!! We would go to the Sheraton coffee shop instead each morning.

We found Housekeeping and the cleanliness of the room was excellent. The decor also is very appealing. The beds are heavenly.

This is a resort that would be very appealing to Families, but not really suitable for couples wanting a quiet romantic getaway. Very noisy day and night with loads of children squealling, and although it has an adult pool many of the parents were allowing their older kids in with them.

I would recommend this resort to families but we wont be returning as it was too noisy and crowded for couples.

It's a great place for kids. We went with our two year old son and ended up having a blast.

There was a mix up when we checked in with our booking which was frustrating, but the management were quick to recognise the issue and excelled our expectations in correcting the problem.

By the end of our holiday many of the staff were greeting us (not just our son - which is common in Fiji) by name.

What made it so good over other places on Denarau? Here's a quick list :

- the pools. Not just different, but outstanding for kids. There's a mini-hydroslide which is completely enclosed thru a rock "mountain," a lazy river, sand at the edge of the pools and an adults pool which is kids free.

- the rooms. Apartment style with separate bedroom, and a really well designed inter-connect option. Washing machines and dryers. Well stocked kitchens with dishwashers.

- fast room service for meals. This was brilliant for kids as meals arrived literally in ten minutes.. Great when your child wants food NOW. They were also really happy to accommodate custom meal requests if you didn't feel the menu suited your childs diet.

- the running of the 'warriors' each night to light the torches around the hotel. Kids love this, and our son looked forward to it every night.

- DVD players in the rooms. Movies were $20 but there's a video rental store at the new shopping centre at the marina (hint : the DVD players only play region 4 DVDs, but are easily hacked to play all regions. For details just Google the model number and the word "hack". Hacking the player means it will play all region DVDs)

- the food is above the quality you get at most other places on Denarau. We had a chat with the head chef one night and he said that they are really putting a lot of importance on this, as a low level of satisfaction with the food is one of the main complaints about Fiji holidays.

Last year we stayed at the Sheraton but it was not a patch on the Radisson. We've also stayed at several other places in Fiji but the Radisson is where we will return next year.

We stayed six nights at the beginning of August. The best thing about the Radisson were the pools. There were three altogether with one being an adults only pool. Definitely the nicest of all the hotels on Denarau.

Unfortunately, the food was below average and over-priced as you would expect.

The best thing about staying on Denarau rather than the Coral Coast is its proximity to other hotels (so you can use their restaurants, bars, spas etc) and the Marina (which is useful for day trips to the islands). You can take the "bula bus" from reception which stops at all the hotels on denarau and the marina (which has around 3 restaurants). It comes every 10 minutes or so.

It is also worth taking day trips to the islands - you can book the tours online rather than booking at the tour desk at reception (which costs a little bit more).

One problem with Radisson was their service at check in. They failed to obtain my authorisation and took a deposit without my knowledge. Fortunately, I contacted the manager and they managed to sort it out and explain the situation to me. I also thought the in-room cleaning service was lacking but as it was a beach holiday it didn't really matter!

In a word, The Radisson Resort Fiji is FANTASTIC!! On arrival, we were warmly welcomed and taken to a table overlooking the gorgeous floodlit waterfall. We then enjoyed an ice cold fruit punch and cold wash towel, while completing the paperwork. We were then escorted to our room and shown the amenities by the porter.

We had a one bedroom pacific view suite. The room was clean and well appointed with every modern convenience you could need. The bed was very comfortable, with plenty of pillows. There was 2 flat screen LCD TV's, a DVD player, dish washer, microwave, washing machine and dryer.

The jewel in the crown of the Radisson is by far the pool area. It is amazing. There is a toddlers pool, a childrens pool, the main family pool, and an adults only pool which also has 2 hot tubs. There are plenty of huge shade sails, a fake beach for the kids to play, a water slide and a swim up bar in the family pool. We quite happily spent the majority of our 10 days relaxing by the pool.

The food at the Radisson was lovely. We enjoyed every meal we had at Nautilus. The evening buffet was $48 FJD which was quite good value. You could eat as much as you wanted, and it was all beautiful. Some of the themes we had were Indian, Mediteranean, Seafood, and a BBQ. One bit of advise ... leave room for dessert!! The desserts were wonderfull, especially the chocolate fountain. My only disappointment was the lunch menu. It is a bit sparse in terms of variety and almost everything is fried.

We also had some lovely meals at the Sherton and the Westin, although the prices there are extremely excessive for what you get. If you are after a nice meal, but are over the hotel prices, go next door to the WoldMark Resort. Its a 30 second walk up the beach from the Radisson. We had a great meal at the SeaFront restaurant and it was around $30 FJD cheaper then anywhere else we had eaten.

We did have a few gripes with the Radisson, but on the scheme of things they were not really that much of an inconvenience:

- The business center only had 2 computers. If both were being used, you usually had to wait quite a while or come back at a later time.

- There is not enough cardio equiipment in the fitness center. There is one treadmill, one eliptical, and a weight gym. If the treadmill or eliptical were taken, you had to wait or come back later.

- There is nowhere to exchange pool towels. The pool towels are supposed to be changed daily when your room is serviced. However, in our experience this rarely happened. Out of the 10 nights we spent there, only twice were fresh pool towels provided without us having to ask. We had to either call the front desk and wait for someone to bring them, or go and take some from the fitness center.



Overall, we were very happy with the resort, and are already planning a return trip.

We've just returned from a 6 night stay at the Radisson It was okay but obviously they have some teething problems to work though Check in was slow and dissappointing Arriving at 5 and our room still not ready Shown to another room which just isn't the same as being able to settle in and get into holiday mode I found the room noisey with being woken most mornings by slamming doors that seem to echo and since this resort caters to so many family groups their days seemed to start early The pool area is nice but the adult pool far to small You had to be up and about very early to relax around this pool.

Their wasn't enough hobbie cats or "water toys" available Had to book well in advance

The restaurant was nice but limited menu choices and certainly cheaper than the other places except for Worldmarks

Breakfast excellent

Usual "Fiji time" at the bar often with waits

Perhaps this was the wrong choice for a couple as I think it would be ideal for those with young families esp the under 5"s

There is a great Indian/Asian Restaurant at the Marina called Indigo Just the best food

Lots more places to open down there All with signs saying opening soon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Becareful of the day trips to the islands Quite expensive and the weather can be quite different from the mainland Very little effort put into daytrippers wellbeing

Great Holiday!

If you're looking for a great family holiday, Raddisson on Denarau Island is great value. Beautiful pool, we sampled all the hotel resorts in the area and all agreed the Raddisson pool complex was the best. White sand edges for the little ones to play. A brilliant water slide for the kids and another baby slide for under 2's. The adult pool is a great concept when you need time out. The traditional singers are a bonus.

The rooms were beautifully appointed. Very comfortable beds, fluffy white towels, and great air-con. We also sampled all the fire-lighting ceremonies and thought the Westin great for atmosphere at sunset.

On the down side the food is very ordinary, and everything comes with chips. All the hotel food was very average and overpriced. Best place for breakfast was the Westin. Unlimited smoked salmon, champagne and strawberries. Best meal we had was at the Japanese in town, 10 mins. by cab and at (very expensive but worth it ) Ports-O-Call at the Sheraton.

We booked a one-bedroom pacific view room and were assured because the hotel is new and not busy we would be up-graded for $1. Wrong! Not only were we not upgraded, the room had no view. After three days the hotel gave us the room we had paid for but thought they were doing us a favour. We had to spend first three days complaining. When we offered to pay for a 2 bedroom suite it suddenly became available. My advice is to pay for the cheapest room you can as we spent almost no time in the room, the facilities were so lovely we didn't need to.

The massage bure a short stroll along the beach gave good massages at a much cheaper rate than any of the hotels.

In short we all had a wonderful time and would certainly return.

We stayed in Denarau as we wanted to do some trips out to the islands for snorkelling. Watch out - at $800 for the day we gave that a miss.

The best resort on Denarau by far! Great value for money..Its good to see realistic pricing for meals and drinks unlike other resorts in the area. Fantastic pools, great rooms and the service is the best i have experienced in Fiji (and ive been 15 times!)

Great for families, this place has it all!

We were first-timers to Fiji - it's fair to say we are hooked! We (my husband and 3 year old son) spent a week at the newly opened Radisson in a Pacific One Bedroom Apartment.

The rooms are ideal for families - there is a separate bedroom with the biggest bed ever (big enough for the whole family to sleep in) and a pull-out sofa-bed in the living area. There is also great kitchen facilities - microwave, 2 hotplates, full cutlery and crockery requirements, fridge, kettle etc - and a washing machine and dryer. The kitchen facilities mean it is perfect for families who want to do their own catering which is what we did for breakfast and some lunches.

The pool facilities are excellent and again, ideal for children. There is a large lagoon type swimming pool with sand around edges, a couple of other kids pools and a water slide. There is also an adults only pool which we didn't get to sample!

The hotel has been open less than a month, so as would be expected there are still some finishing touches going on (some planting, painting, construction on the final wing to be opened) and some teething problems to iron out. Housekeeping was a bit inconsistent - rooms seemed to be cleaned anytime between 9am and 5pm but impossible to predict when. Sometimes you didn't always get everything done - e.g. had to phone to get dishwasher powder when it wasn't replenished, no facecloths at one service etc. Little things really. It took 2 days and 3 phone calls to get a tin opener!

I think the main downside is that there is really only one restaurant on the resort. We had a buffet dinner there one night for $40 per head which was exceedingly awful. Having said that, a quick trip on the free bus into Denarau means you can easily go to another resort restaurant or into the marina to a restaurant there. (There is also a mini-market and hot bread shop at the marina shopping centre which is handy).

Although some parts of the service were not what I would consider up to 5 star standard, I'm guessing it's all part of being on Fiji time and we didn't incur any major hassles. Some things seemed to be chaotic and disorganised, but nobody was really worried about it.

Overall, we had a wonderful time and the Radisson suited our needs. We would definitely go back again.

Fantastic accomodation on Denarau. Brand New in July 07 this hotel / apartments wre fantastic. 4 Separate huge pools with a great water slide for the kids and a peaceful adults pool with great pool bar. Rooms are very spacious and clean with great air conditioning. Great relaxing holiday by 2 Adults and 2 kids 6-10.

We go to Fiji regularly, and had anticipated this new hotels opening. It's just magic! On the best beach on Denarau (white sand, not black like most of the other hotels) this one has it all - fantastic pool complex, with special kids pools (waterslide etc) and "reserved for adults only" pools! The restaurant is right on the beachfront, which faces the cliche'd Fijian sunset. We had a two bedroom apartment with everything, kitchen, laundry, 3 plasma tv's, 2 DVD players, even has what in Fiji is called broadband (it's not really that quick). This place is a big improvement on all the others. But one of the nicest things about Denarau now is the new Marina Shopping Centre that has bars and restaurants, and even a well stocked supermarket, so you can finally escape the hotel restaurants.